Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-03-17
IRONTON. MO-. THURSDAY. MARCH 1887.
Old Times.

N"S % siC hlSt VI tHc "eShf pdssSe
through the lovely grounds of Sylvan
Lake, and from habit stopped at th'
spring to drink of the pure, cold water
then seated myself under the Gran
Oak and gave myself up TO thoughts o
early days, of the surroundings anC
first acquaintance with the first settlel
of this beautiful spot. In my imagin'
alton saw myself with my gun at the
spring, almost fifty years ago; for the
first time I had been cut shooting, and
went to the place to see what kind of q
neighbor we had. l had heard that be
had been great hunter. AS [ stood
came from the house, with chair in
each hand. AS he came nearer I saw
he was man given to drink, and it
had told on him fearfully. / saw tina t
he had been very strong man. AS
he came to me he accosted me with the
| friendly greeting, "take a chair" At
ter seating ourselves, he asked me a
great many questions. AT last he
Noticed my guu, which was a light
| fowling-piece, brought to America by
our ancestors. / had had it made oyer
just before we left the old home, with
the lCck on the under side of the stock
| and it was very handsome gun. He
reached out his hand, took it and ex-
amined it very carefully, locking into
the muzzle and scrutinizing closely.
After looking at it througbly, he said,
"4ou don't expect to hunt with that
thing, do you? That won't kill any
thing but quails; swap her off and ge:
a gun" Well, I felt little hot, for
had not thai old gun been handed down
now to have it condemned as worth
less! | felt that the man did not know
what he was talking about. Then he
began to tell of his early days in the
Valley, of his hunting exploits, how
many deer he had killed in a day, OF
the great times he had had with good
team CT dogs after bear. AS he told
story after story, lost all resentment
towarts him, for what he had said
about my gun, and as he related Incl
dents of interest of his past hunts, be-
gan 10 transfer my affections from my
gun to the old hunter. And he said.
"Now il you want to make a good
hunter of yourself, you swap that gnn
for II coed rifie-a gun you can Kill
something with-and when you get
rifle come over and I will teach you
given that old hunter my Who'll.
heart, aud think from what he said
and the way in which he pressed my
hard at parting, that l had gained
his full confidence. The result was,
soon sold my gun and bought rifle
with flint lock-and, by.the-way let
me say if / were to live my life over
again with the experience l have had
with guns in the woods, I would al
ways use flint lock; for as long as you
have powder to load with, you have
printing, and your piece is more easily
kept in order, sure fire, don't burst ca ps
and scare the game-shoots clearer.
Yes, [ would always take the old flint
lock. You say. "old fogy." Well, you
hunt as many years in the woods as
have, in all kinds of weather, and you
will be of the same mind.
After that first visit I often called to
see the old hunter, for he had promised
oF
member the house and all the surround
ings. The house was of large hewcd
logs, with brick chimney, which
showed to owner to be an "aristocrat,"
man of importance. A few yards
from tie spring was a spring-house;
few yards south was a still for max
ing fire-water (whiskey); below the
spring house was meadow of about
four acres. That great elm tree in Mr..
Jack Newman's yard was in the south
east corner of the meadow. That little
bit of ground was all the meadow in
the valley at that time; the grounds
about Sylvan Lake composed nearly
all the meadow. / remember one year
the owner hired two men to cut and
M ke the hay on that piece OF ground,
aid they were two whole weeks doing
it. They worked "by the day." aud
were boarded, aud the whiskey was
thrown IN. Near that great elm stood
large locust tree, which We used as
target; for all hunters who came and
had their guns with them must try
few shots at that tree. This old hunter
had a mark made south of the house,
near it, where we stood, one hundred
and ten steps from the tree, and any
man who could stand flat-footed and
hit the center at that distance was call
ed good shot. After being under the
old hunters instructions for a year or
two, / got SO could put all my balls
into the diamord off-hand and fiat
footed. / shall never forget the first
time my old tutor sent me out to kill
a deer for him; it was in June, the third
year after we came to the Valley.
had killed quite number of deer in
the meantime. I went to his house
about eleven O'Clock. He said, "You
stay to dinner, then you go out and kill
an old buck and bring me ham,,
While dinner was being made ready
he told hunting stories; how he had
killed and brought in deer on his back:
how 10 find the deer; all their habits;
when and where they feed; where they